1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of and apparatus for image recording applicable to printers, copying machines, electronic typewriters, facsimile equipment, and the like.
2. Related Background Art
In recent years, various kinds of information processing system have been developed in conjunction with rapid progress made in the information industry, and recording apparatuses suitable for the various information processing systems have been developed.
Among such recording apparatuses, there is a thermal transfer recording apparatus. This apparatus effects recording on recording paper using an ink ribbon in which a heat melting ink having a coloring agent dispersed in a heat melting binder is applied to a substrate.
In other words, the ink ribbon is superposed on recording paper in such a manner that a thermal transfer ink layer will contact the recording paper, and the ink ribbon and the recording paper are conveyed between a thermal head and a platen. Then, by applying heat in the form of pulses corresponding to image signals sent from the substrate side of the ink ribbon by means of the thermal head and by using pressure to transfer the melted ink onto the recording paper, an ink image corresponding to heating and the pressurization is recorded on the recording paper.
The above-described apparatus is compact, light in weight, and noise-free, and recording paper can be effected on plain paper.
However, such conventional thermal transfer recording apparatuses are not free from problems.
In other words, with conventional thermal transfer recording apparatuses, the transfer recording performance, i.e., the printing quality, is substantially affected by the smoothness of the surface of the recording medium. Although good image recording is effected on recording paper with a high degree of surface smoothness, in the case of recording paper with a low degree of surface smoothness there is a possibility of a reduction in the quality of images recorded.
In addition, if a multi-color image is to be obtained using a conventional thermal transfer recording apparatus, it is necessary to repeat the transfer process to cause different colors to overlap each other. For that reason, it becomes necessary to provide a plurality of thermal heads or provide the recording paper with complicated functions such as stopping and reverse feeding. Thus, there are problems in that color drift is unavoidable, and that the overall apparatus becomes large and complex.
Therefore, the present applicant invented image recording methods and transfer recording media which allow high-quality images to be recorded on a recording medium having a low degree of surface smoothness by overcoming the aforementioned problems of the prior art. In addition, the present applicant invented image recording methods and transfer recording media which allow multi-color images to be obtained without needing to have the recording medium perform complicated functions. The present applicant filed patent applications in Japan for these inventions as Japanese Patent Application Nos. 120080/1985 (filed on June 3, 1985), 120081/1985 (filed on June 3, 1985), 131411/1985 (filed on June 17, 1985), 134831/1985 (filed on June 20, 1985), 150597/1985 (filed on June 7, 1985), 199926/1985 (filed on Sept. 10, 1985), and 250884/1985 (filed on Nov. 11, 1985). Furthermore, on the basis of the priority rights afforded by these Japanese applications, the present applicant filed an application in the United States (U.S. Ser. No. 869,689, filed on June 2, 1986) and a European application (Application No. 86107540.6, filed on June 3, 1986).
The present invention which will be described below is a further development of the aforementioned inventions for which the present applicant filed the Japanese applications, the U.S. application, and the European application. The present invention can be applied, as necessary, to the image recording methods and transfer recording media described in the specifications of the aforementioned applications.